Yugidoka: Kyubey's Adventures in Heartland
by The 17th Chimera
Summary: Being dooist is suffering.  1
1. Chapter 1

The creature slunk through the corners of the brightly lit city, lurking in the darkness until it could find its target.

There was no rush, though. It could wait for as long as was needed. After all, its target would soon be near, and then there would be no stopping it.

It was late in the night when they finally turned up. A short, pink-haired figure emerged through the lights before pausing and slowly turning to face the shadows in which it was lurking.

The small white creature emerged from the shadows and sat facing the figure. 'Hello,' it said, face completely still, 'would you like to become a magical girl?'

III looked back at the creature that was facing him. 'Why would I want to become a girl?' he replied.

Kyubey looked at III for a long time.

'Well,' it said finally, 'that was unexpected.'

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the city, two figures were walking through it, taking in the city's sights and sounds, and basically just revelling in the experience of being in a new place.<p>

At least, one of them was.

The taller of the girls appeared very on edge, constantly looking around for something, even as her partner happily skipped beside her.

'Come on, Homura-sama,' said the shorter girl. 'I brought you here so you could enjoy yourself. Stop worrying.'

'It's a hard habit to break,' replied Homura. 'And please don't call me "sama"; if anyone should be called "sama", it's you, Madoka-sama.'

'I'm not a "sama"!' replied Madoka, poking the taller girl. 'You're the "sama"!'

'You are,' said Homura.

'YOU!' yelled Madoka, causing several people nearby to glance at them.

'Y-' started Homura, only to stop for a second and turn slightly. Far off, there was the tiniest note of a scream of horror.

In the space of a second the two girls had vanished and reappeared as close to the scream as they could estimate. Homura paused again, but whatever it was had gone silent.

'Damn,' she muttered.

'Don't worry about it,' said Madoka. 'If there's something wrong, then someone will turn up to fix it. That's the way things work, Homura.'

There was a second scream, and now Homura could tell where it was coming from. And once more, within a second, the two were gone.

* * *

><p>The tall, crimson-haired man stood laughing as before him, three people had collapsed on the ground, obviously in pain. Around the group was a computer-simulated graveyard, and in front of them was a huge black puppet, arms outstretched and wielding a wicked-looking whip.<p>

'And now it's time for my TRUE fanservice!' laughed the man, grinning insanely. 'Go, Giant Killer! Final Dance!'

The huge puppet swung its whip towards it three helpless victims – only for it to stop just before hitting the first of them, caught in Homura's hand.

IV's eyes widened, but then he began grinning again. 'Someone else to enjoy my fanservice, huh?' he laughed.

Homura stared back at him, eyes calm.

'And who might you be?' asked IV, smirking.

'I am Homura Akemi,' replied Homura. 'And I'm not about to stand here and let you hurt these people.'

'So what are you going to do about it?' asked IV, tilting his head.

There was a deep purple flash, and suddenly Homura was lying on the ground, looking slightly dazed.

IV laughed, and presented his left hand, upon which was a glowing seal. 'Sorry, little girl. But if you're going to waste my time, then I'm going to have to dispose of you.'

Homura glanced at the strange blade-like object on IV's left arm, and smiled softly. 'So, you're one of this world's duellists?' she asked.

'And what's that meant to mean?' asked IV, as Homura stood up and dusted herself off.

'I'll make a deal with you,' said Homura. 'I'll play your game. If I win, then you stop hurting people. And if I lose, then whatever you would inflict on them, you can inflict on me instead.'

IV raised an eyebrow. 'Interesting suggestion. Alright, I'll take your challenge.'

There was a flash of violet, and Homura spun in the air, reappearing with a strange bronze device on her arm, from which emerged a thin D-Pad.

'Let's duel,' said Homura.

* * *

><p>III was returning to his family's current home, the strange white creature clinging to his shoulder. Despite the lack of facial movements, it seemed to be quite distressed, muttering to itself about how "this isn't right" and "you should be a girl". At one point III stopped at a bakery and bought it some bread to eat, which seemed to make it a bit more relaxed, but even so it still seemed to be quite on edge.<p>

They finally arrived at the massive hotel that III's family was residing in for the duration of the Duel Carnival.

'Nice place, huh?' said III, but Kyubey was silent.

As they went into the elevator, III began to wonder about the strange creature he was carrying. Could it have something to do with the Numbers? It didn't seem like it at first glance, but he couldn't think of any other explanation for the thing's existence. But his brothers would know. They always knew.

III walked in and held Kyubey out in his hands, presenting it to V. 'Nii-sama, do you know what this is?' he asked.

V looked at III holding his empty hands out to him, and sighed. 'What what is, III?' he replied.

III looked down at the creature in his hands, and it looked back at him. 'Only the people I have chosen can see me,' it replied.

'Oh, I see!' said III, as V looked at him bemusedly.

'III, what are you talking to?' asked V.

'Uh… it's a little white thing!' said III. 'It says its name is Kyubey.'

V looked at III's outstretched hands once more, then shook his head. 'III,' he said, 'we don't have the time for this right now. IV is duelling someone, and losing.'

'What?' replied III, looking at the screen. IV indeed seemed to be losing – he had no monsters on his field, and his opponent had four, strange monsters of a kind that III had never seen.

Kyubey leapt behind III's head. 'Her,' it said.

III examined IV's opponent – a tallish, black-haired girl in a purple outfit and a very hard gaze. Whilst IV was looking increasingly agitated, she seemed to be hardly putting any effort in her duelling.

'Her first move was to destroy IV's "Xyz Colosseum",' stated V. 'From there, she's been completely ruthless. Your brother's had to revert to stall tactics.'

'Who is she?' asked III.

'Not a clue,' replied V. 'There's no information on her in the records anywhere, and those monsters aren't showing up either. All we know is her name – Homura Akemi.'

* * *

><p>IV was worried. He'd underestimated this girl, and was paying for it. She'd even been able to circumvent his "Giant Killer OTK" with her own field spell, and since then she'd ruthlessly torn through his defences like they weren't even there.<p>

'It's your move,' said his opponent quietly.

IV glared, drawing. Then, his face curved into a vicious smile. 'From my Graveyard, by discarding two copies of Gimmick Puppet – Necro Doll, I can Special Summon the Level 8 Gimmick Puppet – Spider Web!'

Before him appeared a bizarre clockwork spider, eight false red eyes staring emptily at Homura.

**ATK: 0, LV: 8**

'Then, from my Graveyard, I can Special Summon one copy of Necro Doll by banishing the other!'

Beside the spider appeared a coffin, which opened to reveal a girl doll, her face heavily bandaged.

**ATK: 0, LV: 8**

'With these two Dark monsters I will construct the Overlay Network!' yelled IV, throwing his hand out and the seal on the back of his left hand glowing as the two monsters turned into glowing purple orbs and vanished into the galaxy-shaped portal that had materialised between him and Homura.

'Xyz Summon! Number 40! Gimmick Puppet – Heaven's Strings!' he declared, as his monster unfolded and took form in front of him.

**ATK: 3000, RK: 8**

'Now then, I think it's my turn to take the advantage, hmm?' laughed IV, smiled extending madly. 'Heaven's Strings attacks your Madoka the Follower!'

Homura glared at him coldly. 'Do you think I would let my friend be destroyed by your abomination?' she said. 'Trap activate, Hope Spot! This prevents Madoka from being destroyed, no matter what you throw at her!'

As the deformed puppet swung its blade at the girl, a glowing shield appeared around it, cocooning her and deflecting the blade.

IV cursed. 'Well then, I guess we'll just have to play hard mode. I activate Heaven's Strings' effect!'

One of the glowing orbs orbiting the creature was absorbed into its sword, and above it appeared a huge vortex as the puppet began to play the strings on its right arm with the sword. From the vortex flew thousands of red strings, which attached to all Homura's monsters.

'At the end of your next turn,' declared IV, 'all of your monsters will be destroyed, and you will take damage equal to their total attack points. Your move, "protector of hope"!'

Homura looked steely back at him. 'Draw,' she said. 'I Summon the last "Puella Magi" – Guardian Homura!'

Before her appeared a duplicate of herself, complete with buckler.

**DEF: 2000, LV: 4**

'Now, I activate the effect of Gunslinger Mami!' she continued. 'By cancelling her attack during this turn, she can negate the effect of an opponent's monster!'

'What?!' yelled IV.

'And, I activate the effect of my Spearlady Kyoko! By cancelling her attack this turn as well, I can reduce the attack power of your Heaven's String's by 500 for each of my other "Puella Magi" monsters. As I control three, your monster's attack power is reduced by 1500!'

Mami flung out two thin golden cords that wrapped around the puppet, pulling it to the ground. Then, Kyoko threw her spear at the puppet, where her spear split into chains and crashed into IV's puppet, ripping pieces of it off.

**ATK: 3000→1500**

'Now,' continued Homura, 'I attack and destroy your Heaven's Strings with Sayaka! Go, Finishing Steel Strike!'

**IV: 1600→1200**

As his monster was destroyed, IV flinched, but then began to laugh as he noticed his Life Points had been reduced only to 1200. 'Seeing as none of your other monsters can attack this turn,' he said, 'I guess that means I win.'

'Not quite,' replied Homura. 'I activate my – Homura's effect! By Releasing her, I can allow any of my "Puella Magi" monsters that have already attacked this turn to attack once more!'

IV's eyes widened, and he involuntarily took a step back.

'Now go, Sayaka! Attack him directly! _Finishing Steel Strike!_'

The blue-clothed girl leapt in front of IV, then drew her sword back and stabbed it forwards into IV, knocking him backwards and causing him to stumble into the wall.

**IV: 1200→0**

* * *

><p>III and V stared blankly at the screen. For a second there was a silence, then III began to make a weak laugh.<p>

'Well,' he said, 'at least it wasn't an important duel.'

V turned to him. 'Don't you get it? Someone just turned up and utterly _destroyed_ him. And seeing as he's trying to uphold his reputation as "undefeatable", that might cause his reputation to sink a fair bit, _which is something we cannot allow_. III, I want you to hunt down this "Homura Akemi" and stop her from letting people find out about this. I will deal with the others that were watching.'

III nodded, whilst Kyubey crawled up onto his shoulder again.

'Confronting Homura Akemi is not a good idea,' said the creature.

'I have to do as my brothers ask,' replied III, causing V to cast him another glance, before looking back down as III vanished into a vivid black portal.

_After this is all over, III's going to a psychiatrist,_ V thought. _A fifteen year old's psyche isn't meant to be able to deal with this._

Having made this decision, V left to retrieve his brother.


	2. Chapter 2

'That was amazing, Homura-sama!' said Madoka as they left IV's "arena", re-entering the hub of Heartland.

'It really wasn't,' replied Homura. 'That guy talked big, but he was a pushover when it was important.'

III and Kyubey followed the pair silently. 'I insist on caution,' whispered Kyubey. 'Homura Akemi is a major threat, and I don't even know who that other girl is, but if she's with Homura, then she's at least as bad.'

'I'm not going to fight them,' replied III. 'I'm just going to–'

He was interrupted by the gun that had just appeared before him, pointing at his forehead and wielded by Homura Akemi. Kyubey, he noticed, had immediately hidden behind his legs, as if scared of being seen by the pair.

'Why were you following us?' asked Homura, voice hard.

'I-I-' stuttered III, eyeing the weapon poised to end him.

'Tell me!' yelled Homura, causing III to trip backwards over Kyubey and send him sprawling to the ground.

Madoka shrieked, there was a flash, and Kyubey's body was instantly riddled with bullet holes, Homura now pointing a gun in each hand at III.

III stared back at Homura, his eyes wide and terrified.

'_Why were you with that – thing?!_' yelled Homura.

'I don't know it just turned up yesterday and I was trying to find out what it was and…' III's voice trailed off.

'Homura,' whispered Madoka. 'He doesn't know.'

Homura relaxed, the guns vanishing from her hands in an instant. 'How is he here?' she whispered, collapsing onto the ground.

'I don't know,' said Madoka. 'But it doesn't matter. He can't do anything anymore.'

'Of course he can!' cried Homura. 'I don't want to convict anyone to the pain we had to go through. Even if there's a happy ending now, that doesn't mean there's a happy middle.'

'Homura,' replied Madoka. 'We can fix it. It'll be alright. Okay?'

Homura bit her lip. 'Okay,' she whispered.

III stared at the two of them. 'Who _are_ you?' he asked.

'I'm Homura Akemi–' started Homura, before being interrupted by a black haired boy who collided with her, throwing them both to the ground.

Yuma Tsukumo stood up quickly, and began to run off before noticing III.

'Ah!' he yelled. 'You!'

'You…' started III.

The two stared at each other, the air filled with tension.

There was noise behind the group, and a second Kyubey appeared, only for it to be immediately riddled with bullets by Homura once more. Yuma jumped and collided with III, knocking him onto the ground once more. When they looked back, the two girls had vanished.

'What the hell was that about?!' yelled Yuma, grabbing onto III's coat.

'Let go of me, I have as much of an idea as you!' III replied. 'I was just told to look for her because she beat IV-sama in a duel! I've never seen her or that creature before in my life!'

'Creature?' asked Yuma, confused. 'What creature?'

'She's very insistent, isn't she?' interrupted another voice, and III saw a third Kyubey jump down from a balcony and begin to eat the corpses of its two copies as they – or at the very least, III – looked on.

'What the hell is going on…' whispered III.

* * *

><p>Homura and Madoka stopped several streets away to catch their breath.<p>

'Okay, we've gotten involved in something,' said Homura. 'The question is whether or not it's worth staying around. Evidently defeating that idiot "four" had more repercussions than I was expecting.'

'It's not like we're not used to trouble though,' started Madoka.

'Madoka!' cried Homura. 'We're not getting involved in this. I refuse to. Before we know it, it'll get out of control, _especially_ since that little vermin Kyubey is involved.'

'It's already out of control now, though,' replied Madoka. 'You know what will happen if Kyubey stays.'

Homura sighed. 'So we're going to have to stop him. I shouldn't have to deal with this anymore! We put this behind us…' Homura collapsed onto the ground. 'Why did he have to be here?' she mumbled, beginning to cry.

Madoka knelt down next to her. 'Don't cry, Homura-sama,' she said. 'It's not worth it. We can do this, okay?'

Homura stood up. 'Okay,' she said, calm once more. 'Let's go find out what's actually going on here.'

* * *

><p>Yuma looked at the strange white creature in front of him – or rather, the space where III insisted that it was.<p>

'So… it's some kind of magic ferret?' asked Yuma slowly.

'I think so,' replied III. 'I think it's like one of those magic animals from anime, which turns people into magical girls.'

'Well, no wonder it went after you,' laughed Yuma, causing III to glare at him.

There was a flash, and beside Yuma the spirit of Astral appeared. 'I can see it,' said Astral, and Yuma spun to face him.

'You can see it?' yelled Yuma. 'Why is it only me who can't see it?!'

Kyubey looked up at Astral. 'And what sort of a creature are you?' it asked.

'I could ask the same of you,' replied Astral. 'How are you able to see me?'

'Again, I could ask the same of you,' said Kyubey. 'Not everyone is able to see me, though I've never seen anything like you.'

'Likewise,' said Astral. 'What is your purpose?'

Yuma and III looked at their respective halves of this conversation, perplexed.

'I offer contracts in order to transform girls into Puella Magi,' said Kyubey. 'And what is your purpose here?'

'I do not remember,' replied Astral. 'However, my current purpose is to collect the "Numbers" so as to restore my memory and recall my purpose.'

'What is a "Number"?' asked Kyubey.

From his deck, III took his "Number 33: OOPArts Super Weapon – Machu Mach", and showed it to Kyubey. 'This is a "Number",' he said. 'It's kind of a magic card.'

Kyubey looked at the card, around which was a deep purple aura that made a whispering sound almost beyond his hearing range; at the very least, it was certainly beyond the range of a human.

'That is an interesting object,' said Kyubey. 'But what is your purpose having this card? What prevents you from delivering it to the amnesiac spirit?'

'What "amnesiac spirit"?' asked III, confused.

Yuma looked around at Astral and at III, who began to simultaneously talk about the "Numbers" and their purpose. He sighed, and sat down on the ground. 'I'm never going to get my last Heart Piece,' he moaned.

* * *

><p>V arrived at IV's location almost immediately after Madoka and Homura had left, appearing in a flash of golden light just outside of the huge empty space.<p>

IV was still sitting against the wall, a look of shock on his face. One eye was reddened and looked like it was about to start bleeding. Across the field from him were his three former opponents, looking equally shocked.

IV slowly shook his head, stood up weakly, then began to slowly walk over his opponents, smile widening insanely as he did.

'None of you saw anything,' he said in a curious, sing-song voice, whilst from his pocket he took a thin, red-hilted knife. 'And none of you ever will.'

'IV!' yelled V, entering the field. 'Stop!'

IV turned to look at V, and his eyes narrowed, but he kept holding the knife.

'IV, stop,' repeated V. 'Drop the knife. There are easier and less damaging ways to dispose of evidence.'

IV laughed, then suddenly collapsed face-first, still laughing into the dirt. V looked down at him with distaste.

'You're being childish,' he commented, before turning to face IV's victims.

'Please don't hurt us,' mumbled one, looking up at V's imposing figure.

V held his hand out, and flicked his wrist slightly. On his forehead, his seal flashed. 'You will forget everything that happened today,' he said. 'You will return to whatever you were doing before you encountered IV. You will not question this behaviour. Leave.'

The three duellists, eyes glowing a dull blue, wandered away from the field. V turned to look at his younger brother, who had now sat up, and was glaring back at him.

'I could have handled that on my own,' said IV.

V hit him across the face. '_Do you know what that would have done, you imbecile?!_' he roared. 'Right now, we need you to stay just as famous and popular as you are in order for our plan to succeed. Otherwise, all of our efforts will have been entirely in vain!' He sighed. 'I can get you out of most situations, IV, but murder's beyond even my powers. And if a few corpses turn up and they happen to discover they left this morning to go duel you, that might come across as just a bit suspicious.'

IV looked up at his brother, eyes now wide, exuding false innocence and shock.

V took a breath, and scowled at IV. 'You're coming back home, now,' said V. 'III's taking care of the girl who beat you, and as soon as she's out of the picture, you can go back to your… "fanservice". Understood?'

IV nodded sullenly, and the two disappeared in another flash of gold.


	3. Chapter 3

High above the streets of Heartland swooped a thin figure in a black coat.

'Kaito-sama!' whispered a voice in his ear, and he scowled.

'What is it, Orbital?' he asked.

'I've locked onto the strange signal from earlier.'

Kaito's scowl relaxed. Earlier that day, he'd detected a series of odd signals from western Heartland, of a kind that he'd never seen before. Upon cross-referencing them with the (admittedly reluctant) help of Droite and Gauche, he discovered that still, there was absolutely nothing that matched them.

'Excellent,' replied Kaito. 'Bring us in, Orbital.'

The figure swooped down into an alleyway, and into the oncoming path of–

'So where is it, Orbital?' asked Kaito, looking around at the empty alleyway, as the robot leapt off his back and unfolded.

There was a click, and then a bullet slammed into Orbital, knocking the robot backwards. Kaito paused, then slowly turned to face the barrel of a gun pointing straight at his forehead.

'…oh,' he muttered, looking at the black-haired girl who was wielding the weapon.

'And where did you come from?' asked Homura coldly. 'Because I'm getting sick of people turning up out of goddamn nowhere and ruining my day, and unless you can explain _now_, then my next bullet's going into your skull.'

'I was following a signal,' replied Kaito, pushing the gun out of his face. 'An unusually strong power source coming from this location.'

'I wouldn't know anything about that,' said Homura, turning to walk away.

'Orbital,' muttered Kaito, and the robot dutifully rose off the ground weakly. Then, there was a flash, and Kaito was standing in front of Homura, blocking her way. 'You're not leaving until you answer my questions.'

In a second, Homura had vanished. Kaito blinked, looking around for anywhere she could have hidden.

'Orbital,' asked Kaito, turning to face him, 'what just happened?'

'Signal lost,' replied Orbital simply, hanging his head in humiliation.

Kaito paused, thinking. 'Orbital,' he said finally, 'I want you to track that girl's signal from when it started to when she just disappeared. I want you to cross reference it against every other energy signal that's been picked up over the last week. I want to know where she was at every point in that time period. And once you've done that, I want you to break into Heartland's surveillance systems and find out exactly what she has been doing. I'm not going to allow her to get away.'

Orbital nodded, then leapt again onto Kaito's back, his robotic form shifting into a jetpack, and with Kaito kicking off the ground, the two once more took to the air.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, IV was plotting.<p>

He'd been defeated. And not by someone like Yuma or Kaito, each of whom had managed to save themselves from certain defeat by means of bullshit like "Chaos Numbers" or "Neo Galaxy-Eyes". No, this girl had just turned up out of nowhere and beaten him like it was no real effort. And worse, she had made him look like a fool.

V had already expressly forbidden him to get worked up over, telling him to leave it to III, but like hell was he going to do that.

Having learnt nothing about his opponent from Heartland's extensive archives other than the fact that she apparently didn't exist, IV began to consider alternative methods of manipulating his new foe.

'Everyone has a pressure point,' he thought. 'I've just got to find hers.'

And then, slowly but surely, he began to chuckle to himself.

* * *

><p>'So,' said Yuma, 'how come you were with those girls?'<p>

III paused. 'You might not believe it,' replied III, as Kyubey and Astral continued their increasingly confusing conversation, 'but that tall girl beat IV-sama in a duel.'

'Well, I'm sure he had it coming,' said Yuma, causing III to glare at him again. 'What?' he replied defensively. 'Your brother's a nutjob! Someone was going to do it at some point.'

III pouted. 'I'd prefer it if you didn't call nii-sama "a nutjob". He's just… he's just…' III's voice trailed off, and his eyes began to water.

'III…' started Yuma. 'Why are you doing this to yourself?'

III looked at Yuma sadly, and began crying.

Astral and Kyubey spared a single glance each at the crying boy before continuing their increasingly convoluted conversation.

'I just…' mumbled III after about a minute. 'I just want my family back…'

'What?' asked Yuma. 'I thought that your brothers were…'

'We used to be so happy,' murmured III. 'We used to be just like a proper family… but we were torn apart. And… you've seen how they are now.'

Yuma's mind flashed back to the images of IV's duel against his friends, and then recalled the imposing, stern figure of V.

'Yeah…' replied Yuma. 'I have. But… you know what might cheer you up?'

III looked up at Yuma. 'What might?' he whispered.

'How about you come and hang out with me and my friends for the rest of the day?' asked Yuma. 'We're out looking for someone to duel so that I can get into the Duel Carnival finals.'

'Oh…' said III. 'Haven't you already got all your Heart Pieces?'

Yuma smiled, embarrassed. 'I kinda forgot, what with everything that's been happening over the past couple of days.'

'That's understandable,' replied III, beginning to smile weakly.

'Come on,' said Yuma, grabbing III's hand and pulling him down the street. 'I gotta introduce you to my friends.'

'Are you sure they're not going to hate me?' said III, hanging his head. 'After all, IV-sama did really hurt a couple of them.'

'You don't need to feel responsible for what your brother has done,' insisted Yuma.

There was a buzzing noise, and III took a small D-Gazer from his pocket, slipping it over his eye. 'Phone,' he explained.

'III!' yelled IV through the Gazer. 'Where are you? I need you back here!'

'Nii-sama…' sighed III.

'III, I need you to find those girls V sent you to stalk,' continued IV.

III blushed. 'I wasn't… "stalking" them…' he started, but was interrupted again.

'Of course you were! Anyways, I need you to kidnap one of them. The pink-haired one.'

'But… nii-sama… I can't…'

'No buts, III! You're going to kidnap that girl and bring her here, and that'll force that black-haired girl to come here and apologise!'

III almost choked. 'You want me to kidnap a girl just to make someone apologise for beating you?' he replied. Yuma glanced at him, and was about to say something, before being interrupted by a buzz from his own D-Gazer.

On the screen appeared Kotori's image. 'Yuma, we found someone!' she said, smiling.

'Alright, way to go!' yelled Yuma. 'Just keep 'em there until I get there, I can't miss this!'

'Whatever you say, Yuma,' Kotori laughed. 'And don't worry, we made sure they're extra weak, too!'

Yuma deflated in an instant. 'What? I-' he started, before being startled by the fact that III had vanished.

'He's on your shoulder,' commented Astral, and Yuma jumped.

'What's on my shoulder?' he replied, startled.

'What's on your shoulder?' asked Kotori.

'Uh… I'll be right there,' said Yuma.

'I didn't tell you where it is yet,' replied Kotori. Yuma deflated.

'Then where is it?' asked Yuma.

'It's over near the park near our school,' replied Kotori. 'And if you actually start moving, you might even get there before he wanders off.'

'Hey, I'm going! I'm going!' yelled Yuma, and Kotori giggled and his D-Gazer went blank.

'That was Kotori, one of Yuma's friends,' Astral was saying to Yuma's shoulder. 'I'm not sure how useful she'd be to you, though, she's quite devoted, but…'

Yuma threw his hands over his ears and ran down the street towards his school, desperately trying to ignore Astral talking about his friends to some invisible rodent.

* * *

><p>Madoka was sitting in a café in Heartland, waiting for Homura to return from finding IV.<p>

She looked around at the people walking around, and laughed softly. 'I like this place,' she sighed.

Someone tapped on her shoulder, and she turned to see III, who was blushing fiercely and holding his hands behind him back.

'Oh,' said Madoka, 'you're that boy from earlier.'

III made a curious gasping noise, then took one of his hands from behind his back and moved it towards Madoka before she could humanly react.

The needle jabbed into her skin, she made a curious gasping noise of her own, and she slumped in her seat, unconscious.

III stood there for a moment, then whispered, almost shocked, 'What did I just do…'

Then he shook his head, and his eyes hardened. 'It's for the sake of my family,' he said, eyes watering. 'It's for the sake of my family. It's for the sake of my family…'

III lifted the girl up over one shoulder. She was lighter than he had expected.

'It's for the sake of family…' he murmured, disappearing in a flash of gold.


	4. Chapter 4

IV clapped his hands and laughed as III materialised before him, the unconscious Madoka draped over one shoulder.

'Well done, III!' he crowed. 'Well done, indeed!'

III said nothing in reply, head bowed sullenly.

'That's one less obstacle in my – our – way,' continued IV. He tilted his head at III's lack of response. 'Hey, III, what's wrong?' he asked softly.

'Nii-sama,' started III, 'is what we're doing right?'

IV laughed. 'We are dispensing our revenge!' he crowed. 'I have no doubt that–'

'I just kidnapped an innocent girl!' yelled III, before falling to the ground, sobbing. 'What are we turning into…' he moaned.

IV looked at his younger brother, stunned. III was about the only other person in the world he really cared about anymore, and it truly pained him to see him like this.

'III…' he started, but III stood up again and pushed IV away.

'I'm fine,' choked III, walking out of the room. There was a split second pause, and IV could hear the sound of III running to his room, crying.

IV shook his head, vanishing thoughts of III from his mind as he turned to face his unconscious prize. 'Now then,' he said, his face twisting into a vicious smirk, 'let's see how far this girl is willing to go for her friend.'

* * *

><p>Kaito arrived at the place where IV had duelled Homura – a small clearing between Heartland's looming buildings where four alleyways merged.<p>

'And you're sure this is the place?' asked Kaito.

'There were several smaller incidents previous to this event,' replied Orbital, jumping off his back, 'but this is the location of the first of the more powerful signals to emerge.'

'What happened here…' murmured Kaito, before turning to face Orbital. 'Orbital! I want you to get into the network. Hack into any satellites, any surveillance systems, I want everything that could have seen what happened here!'

'D-Satellites 18 and 31 accessed,' replied Orbital instantly, and Kaito raised an eyebrow.

'"D-Satellites"?' he mused. 'There was a duel here? But between who?'

There was a click, and Orbital's right eye began projecting a large glowing sphere, within which were two familiar figures facing one another – the girl from earlier, and another figure, a tall crimson-haired man.

'IV,' said Kaito, voice hard.

'Duellists were "IV" and "Homura Akemi",' stated Orbital.

'Bring up all statistics on Homura Akemi,' said Kaito.

Orbital bowed and nodded. 'As you wish, Kaito-sama.' There was a slight click, and then Orbital said, voice more toneless than usual, 'Homura Akemi. Sex: Female. Age: Unknown. Place of Birth: Unknown. Ranking: Unknown. Deck Type: Unknown. B-'

'So we know nothing about her?' interrupted Kaito.

'That is correct,' answered Orbital, voice returning to normal.

'That's annoying,' replied Kaito. 'Well… do we know who won in this duel?' he continued, gesturing to the flickering image behind him.

There was whirring noise and it skipped to the end of the duel, and IV being thrown back by Mami's blast. 'Winner was Homura Akemi,' stated Orbital. 'Win margin: 4000 to 0.'

'4000 to 0…' Kaito whispered. 'She managed to bring down _IV_ without taking any damage herself?'

'That is corre-' started Orbital, but was once more interrupted by Kaito, who just noticed something about the duel occurring on screen.

'Go back to the start,' said Kaito. 'IV was duelling someone before, I want to see what happened between the two duels.'

There was a whirring noise, and the images returned to the start – Homura catching Giant Killer's whip, her suddenly materialising beside IV-

'Stop!' yelled Kaito. 'What just happened? She just appeared right beside him. She was at least ten feet away before. Rewind it. Frame by frame.'

And there it was. One second she was facing IV, the next second she was within a foot of him, being flung away by a shimmering purple barrier that surrounded him.

'Did she… teleport?' asked Orbital.

'No,' replied Kaito. 'She did what you do, Orbital. She froze time.'

* * *

><p>Yuma flung out his hand. 'With my Level 3 Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Girl, I construct the Overlay Network!' he declared as his two monsters vanished into a red spiral-like portal. 'Xyz Summon! Come on out, String Majin, Muzumuzu Rhythm!'<p>

Before him materialised a squat creature in a coat, holding a two-armed guitar.

'And, the effect of my Gagaga Girl activates, reducing the attack power of your Inzektor Exa-Stag to zero!' continued Yuma. His opponent's eyes widened in shock.

'Now, I attack Exa-Stag with Muzumuzu Rhythm! And, when he battles an Xyz Monster, I can double his attack power by detaching an Overlay Unit!'

'What?!' yelled his opponent, as Yuma's monster fired a ball of glittering energy at his insect, tearing through it and slamming into him, and knocking him to the ground as his Life Points fell from 2400 to 0.

'Well done, Yuma!' laughed Kotori as the simulated field dissolved around the group. Yuma's opponent walked over and handed him his last Heart Piece.

'Hey, good duel!' said Yuma. 'You almost had me for a bit there too!'

'I did, huh,' replied his opponent, smiling and walking off.

'It's true, he almost did,' said Kotori. 'If you hadn't drawn Gagaga Girl, in fact, you would have lost.'

'Yeah,' answered Yuma, 'but I did, so that's all that matters. And now that I've got my last Heart Piece, I don't have to worry about it anymore! I'm into the finals!'

'Fair enough,' replied Kotori.

'So, where's everyone else?' asked Yuma. Kotori blushed.

'I… I kind of forgot to tell them you were duelling,' she mumbled, laughing.

'Well, let's go tell them!' said Yuma, moving to walk off – before being interrupted by a blast of energy that ripped a hole in the ground in front of him. He instantly turned to face the cause of the destruction, a tall pink-haired girl.

'You again…' he moaned, before being pushed out of the way by Kotori.

'Oi, Anna!' she said. 'Don't you have better things to do than try and kill Yuma?'

'Not really, no,' replied Anna, taking aim again.

'Yuma, it's that girl again,' said Astral, as Kotori and Anna began to argue.

Yuma very slowly turned to face Astral, clearly irritated. 'I can see that, Astral!' he yelled.

'I don't see why you are annoyed at me,' replied Astral. 'I was under the impression that that information would be nothing but useful.'

'It's not useful if I already know it!' cried Yuma.

'What sort of contract?' asked Anna, completely out of the blue. Kotori and Yuma stared at her.

'What?' said Yuma and Kotori simultaneously.

'It's the thing on your shoulder, Yuma,' Anna replied. 'It's the one talking.'

'That thing's still there?!' cried Yuma, jumping about three feet.

'Where else would it have gone?' asked Astral.

'I don't know! Somewhere else! Anywhere!' yelled Yuma, before putting his head in his hands. 'This is not my day,' he muttered.

'So,' continued Anna, ignoring Yuma, 'I get a wish _and_ magic powers?'

There was a sudden cracking sound, and fifteen bullets passed within an inch of Yuma's head. He turned to look behind him at the approaching form of Homura Akemi, wielding a gun in each hand.

'Don't listen to it,' she said coldly. 'Kyubey's not to be trusted.'

'What would you know about it?' asked Anna.

Homura grabbed Anna by her shirt and knocked her into a wall. '_You cannot comprehend the pain that creature has put me through,_' she whispered, eyes hard.

There was a pause, and Homura dropped Anna to the ground and began walking away.

There was a buzzing from Yuma's pocket, and he looked into his D-Gazer to see an all-too familiar face.

'I know that girl is with you,' said IV, smirking.

'Who is this?' asked Yuma, before having his D-Gazer snatched from his hands by Homura.

'Four,' she said coldly.

'Little girl, you are dealing with powers beyond your comprehension,' continued IV. 'I want you to be at the warehouse on the corner of 18th Street and Tsuyoshi Avenue in, oh… two minutes. I've got a little present for you. And I'll have no excuses either, I happen to know full well that time is no issue for you.'

'And if I refuse?' asked Homura, as Yuma plunged for his D-Gazer and missed.

'If you refuse,' said IV, holding up a long knife that glinted from an unknown light, 'then I'm going to stab your friend in the heart.'

Homura went pale. 'Madoka…' she whispered.

'You know what to do,' said IV, 'so try not to keep me waiting.' He leant out of the shadows, showing his scarred face, deformed by a mad leer. 'I might get bored, after all,' he laughed, and vanished.

* * *

><p>Two minutes is a long time for someone who can stop time.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Madoka awoke inside a small, dark room, shackled to chair. In a pair of chairs sitting across from her were III and IV. IV was smirking, eyes glittering like that of a child looking at a new toy. III, in contrast, had his head bowed, eyes drooped.

'What-' she started, but was interrupted by IV.

'Oh, don't worry,' he said, voice mockingly gentle. 'You won't be here for long, only until your friend turns up.'

Madoka's eyes widened. 'Homura…' she whispered.

'You see,' continued IV, 'your friend and I might have our differences, but given the right incentive, I feel we can surely come to some sort of understanding.'

'Nii-sama…' started III, looking up at his brother, but IV continued regardless.

'So that's why you're here. You're going to help me kill two birds with one stone.' IV laughed, a horrific sound that promised pain. 'Your friend Homura's going to kill one Kaito Tenjo for me,' he jeered, 'and there's not a thing she do to stop herself whilst I've got you!'

Madoka looked up at IV, eyes wide. 'I can't believe that someone like you exists,' she muttered.

IV looked at her, and laughed again. 'Too bad for you,' he replied, standing and turning to walk out of the room. 'It means that you'll miss out on my fanservice. Make sure she doesn't move, III!' he ordered, before turning, leaving, and shutting the door behind him. There was a clicking noise.

'Nii-sama…' said III, running over to the door and knocking on it. 'I don't have a key…'

'Well, if you had a key, she could escape, couldn't she?' laughed IV, voice muffled by the door. 'I need someone to make sure she's still here, but I can't trust you not to let her free. So, I keep the key.'

III slumped to the ground. 'Nii-sama…' he murmured, collapsing into tears.

* * *

><p>Homura Akemi looked at the entrance to the warehouse that IV had directed her to. It was one of the smaller buildings around, seemingly long-abandoned.<p>

'Nice death trap,' commented Homura, looking through one of the building's broken windows at a large, empty area, littered with heaps of crates and boxes. She sighed, and walked up to the door, only to hear a strange whispering noise.

'Do you hear that?' mocked a voice that seemed to echo from every corner of the building. 'That's the sound of a Reti-8 field. It's designed to manipulate the speed of a subatomic particle, though I've found it's more entertaining to use it force objects to move at their proper speed. There'll be none of your time control in here.'

Homura glanced upwards, into the building. 'So you worked that much out,' she replied, stepping slowly but surely further in. 'Would you like some form of reward?'

'My reward will be watching you play as my puppet,' replied IV, but his voice had lost its mocking tone.

'Good luck with that,' replied Homura. 'Now, was there a reason you invited me here, or did you just want me to stand in a factory and listen to you rant?'

'_Silence!_' yelled IV, and Homura grinned. 'If you say one more thing, then I will kill your friend!'

Homura kept smiling.

'Didn't you hear me?' asked IV, irritated by the lack of a response. 'You seemed to be quite worried about her back when I was talking to you before.'

'Well, otherwise you wouldn't have led me here,' replied Homura. 'I needed you to tell me where you wanted me so I could get you where I wanted you.'

There was a pause. 'I'm going to make a deal with you,' said IV finally. 'You're going to kill someone for me. And if you refuse to, or if you fail, then I'm going to kill your friend.'

Homura glared up at the roof, searching for the speaker amongst the ruined rafters and girders in the ceiling. 'I doubt that,' she replied. 'If you do that, then _I'll_ kill _you_.'

'That's my offer,' said IV. 'Take it or both of you will die.'

Homura glanced at one of the stacks of crates and saw the glint of metal. _There are other people in here,_ she thought. 'Who do you want me to kill?' she asked, slowly turning and looking for other likely vantage points.

'A boy named Kaito Tenjo,' replied IV. 'Looks like this.'

There was a clicking noise, and a 3-dimensional image of the boy she had encountered earlier appeared in the centre of the room.

'Yeah,' answered Homura, completing her slow spin, 'I'll pass. I'm not going to do your dirty work, and there's nothing you can do to force me.'

'That's a pity,' said IV sarcastically. 'Ah well. Goodbye, little girl.' There was a slight pause, and then he snarled, 'Kill her.'

Homura leapt to one side as eight bullets coincided in the point she had just been standing in. Then, she took a gun from her buckler and fired into the roof, hitting a part of the decaying roof, which collapsed and fell onto one of the stacks of crates. There was a muffled yell and then silence from there.

'…what?' cried IV, as if startled that Homura wasn't simply going to let herself be killed. 'Fire again! Kill her! Do what I'm bloody paying you all for!'

Homura fired another shot into the roof as a barrage of bullets scraped within a foot of her. There was a cracking sound, and a large speaker fell off the roof, hitting the ground and breaking into pieces.

'Hopefully that'll shut him up,' muttered Homura, dodging yet another spray of bullets. She fired a third shot at another heap of crates, from which there was a shout and a thump.

'Amateurs,' she commented, before being hit in the side of her stomach by a stray shot and falling to the ground from surprise.

Homura rolled aside as another spray collided with where she had fallen, and she fired yet another shot towards a heap of crates, which missed by a foot and made a clinging sound against the factory's wall.

Homura coughed blood, and fired her last two shots into the wall around the door. There was a cracking sound, then a large explosion as the entrance collapsed and the Reti-8 field was dispersed.

In the space of second it was over, the remaining six would-be assassins knocked out and lying unconscious on the ground. Then, she sat in the middle of the empty factory and, taking a set of bandages, began to painfully clean out the wound in her stomach.

* * *

><p>IV sat in one of the many abandoned rooms of his family's hotel, wearing a crimson D-Gazer and watching the four screens in front of him, observing Homura's efforts.<p>

As she was hit in the stomach, he laughed, but his laugh soon faltered as she knocked out the Reti-8 field and the screen was immediately replaced by eight unconscious assassins.

'That's a pity,' he mused, picking up one a gun and turning towards the large steel door Madoka was contained behind.

There was a buzzing noise from the screens, and he turned.

'IV,' came Homura's voice.

'And what do you want?' replied IV, leaping over and reaching the "speak" button. 'Oh, that's right. Your friend. Well, you might as well not bother, she's going to cease to be one of your concerns in a moment.'

'I wouldn't be sure of that,' stated Homura, her voice suddenly muffled. 'See, I'm going to rescue her.'

'Good luck finding me,' remarked IV. 'Heartland hasn't been able to do that, and I highly doubt that you can.'

'You're in a hotel on the corner of 63rd and Noa,' countered Homura. 'Heartland doesn't have quite the same advantages that I do.'

IV cursed. 'Well, if you know that, then you would already be here,' he said.

'I'm not foolish enough to walk into your base,' replied Homura, voice much clearer suddenly. 'No, that's why you're going to come to me, not the other way around.'

'You don't have anything with which to make demands,' answered IV. 'Why should I do as you're asking?'

'Because if you don't,' said Homura, 'then I'll go to the authorities and tell them all about you. I'm sure they'll be _thrilled_.'

'Do you think you'd be the first?' mocked IV. 'That's the weakest threat I've ever heard.'

'What if I told Mr Tenjo instead?' asked Homura. IV's eyes narrowed.

'Do as you wish,' he replied. 'I've still got your friend, and I'll kill her before Kaito even gets close to me.'

'You see, IV, that's where you've been wrong all along,' replied Homura. 'Because Madoka isn't quite a person like you or I. Madoka's an _idea_, one of the most powerful ones at that, and she's not about to be simply captured by somebody like you.'

IV span and leapt towards Madoka's cell, knocking on the door. 'III!' he yelled. 'Is that girl still in there?!'

'Nii-sama?' asked III. 'She's… she's still tied to the chair. She hasn't done anything. I think she's passed out, actually. Why?'

IV relaxed. 'You're bluffing,' he said to Homura.

'Oh, I just needed to know what room she was in,' commented Homura, her voice now coming from behind him. IV went pale, and he glanced at the speakers her voice had come from earlier.

They were marked "hotel footage".

'What?' he yelped, turning around just in time for Homura to punch him in the face.

IV dropped like a stone.

There was a series of blasts, and the steel door folded out of its doorway and collapsed. III looked out of it cautiously.

'Nii-sama…?' he whispered, before running to the side of his unconscious brother.

Homura looked down at him, saddened. 'Why do you insist on caring about him?' she asked.

'He's my brother…' III murmured.

Homura sighed. 'Take care of him,' she instructed, walking into the cell and beginning to unlock Madoka from her chair. 'You're probably the only one who can.'

III looked up at her, eyes wide, as she fumbled with Madoka's chains. There was a snapping noise, and suddenly all four broke apart, shattered by four bullets.

'Homura-sama,' mumbled Madoka. Homura examined her – she seemed mostly unharmed, and she relaxed slightly.

'I can't…' whispered a voice from behind her, and she turned to see III fumbling with the door's keypad. 'I can't forgive you…'

'Don't,' warned Homura, before a second steel door descended from the ceiling and closed off the room's entrance.

There was a long pause, and then a hissing sound began to emerge from the roof.

'That's probably not going to be very good for our health,' commented Homura. 'How about we get out of here, Madoka?'

Madoka nodded wearily.

'Come on,' said Homura, 'I need you to do this.'

Madoka shut her eyes and concentrated, there was a flash of light which set off every sensor in Heartland, and the pair vanished.

III looked at the inside of the room as the door was disintegrated before his eyes. The entire place had been smoothed and cleaned, and emptied of everything inside it.

'What the hell just happened…' he whispered, before collapsing beside his brother, even as the building began to creak around him.


	6. Chapter 6

On the outskirts of Heartland, Kaito Tenjo was duelling a Numbers Holder.

His opponent's Number had already been quenched, destroyed by Kaito's Galaxy Storm spell. Now all there was to do was administer the finishing blow.

'Go, Galaxy-Eyes!' he yelled, flinging out his hand as the massive glowing dragon behind him tensed. 'Attack him directly! _Photon Stream of Destruction!_'

The blast slammed into his opponent and flung him into the air, causing him to collide with the ground hard as his Life Points fell down to 0.

'Now then,' said Kaito, 'allow me to take your-'

'Kaito-sama!' cried Orbital, and Kaito turned to face the machine, irritated.

'What is it, Orbital?' he asked. His opponent looked up at him, eyes wide.

'There's been a huge burst of power near the centre of Heartland,' replied Orbital. 'It's quite similar to the energy signals emitted by that girl.'

Kaito smirked, and nonchalantly stretched out his hand to his opponent, from which a glowing white hand emerged, descended into his chest and drew out a glittering orb, within which was a glowing white card.

'Number captured,' declared Kaito. 'Now let's get a move on before the signal vanishes.'

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in Heartland, Astral froze and spun his body to face the signal.<p>

'Astral?' asked Yuma, raising an eyebrow. 'What are you doing?'

'I just felt the strangest thing…' he whispered. 'It was like a huge flash of light, but more than that… like an explosion of feelings.'

'What?' replied Yuma, bemused.

'There's no time to waste,' said Astral, quickly floating towards the signal.

'But… my friends…' protested Yuma.

'You can find them later,' insisted Astral. 'We need to move before someone else gets there first.'

Yuma sighed, and turned to Kotori. 'Call me when you find them?' he asked.

Kotori smiled weakly. 'Sure,' she said. 'Where are you going?'

'Astral's getting annoyed over something, and he wants me to go look at it. So… yeah.'

'Yuma, we must hurry!' insisted Astral, and Yuma wearily began to chase after the spirit.

* * *

><p>Gauche ran into the centre of Heartland's surveillance centre impatiently.<p>

'What was that?!' he yelled, and his subordinates looked up at him, startled.

'We're trying to isolate it,' they said. 'It's sent shockwaves over the whole city, but it seems to be operating from a very small area, somewhere within… the block on the corner of 63rd and Noa.'

'63rd and Noa, huh?' asked Gauche, smirking. 'Well then, the mood's gotten into me to go take a closer look at this. Keep an eye out for any suspicious activity!' he ordered, walking out.

* * *

><p>III regained consciousness and looked around.<p>

The damage was a lot worse than it had looked earlier. Whatever had happened had short-circuited IV's computer systems, and the screens had exploded, covering the area with tiny particles of glass. Additionally, there were cracks in the roof, and there was an ominous creaking sound from the floor beneath him.

'You're awake, III,' said a voice, and III looked up to see IV, who had a nasty cut on his left cheek and seemed to have started bleeding from his eye again.

'Nii-sama…' started III.

'V and Tron already left,' interrupted IV. 'They left me here to take care of you, since they thought it might be dangerous to move you since we didn't know what happened.' He held out a hand to help his brother up.

'I… I locked those girls into the room with the second door,' said III blearily, 'and then there was this flash of light… and…'

III looked around at the ruined building. 'So what now?' he asked.

'Well,' replied IV, 'we've got a lot of stuff here. Someone's going to turn up because of that explosion, and I need you to keep them out whilst I pack up here.'

III nodded, and turned towards the building's elevator.

'It doesn't work,' remarked IV. III moaned, and turned again towards the stairs. 'I won't be long,' continued IV, walking over to his desk and beginning to examine the computer fragments. III looked at him and nodded again, before starting to make the long walk down to the hotel's foyer.

* * *

><p>Kaito Tenjo arrived at the hotel mere seconds after III arrived in the foyer, landing in front of him and startling him.<p>

'You,' said Kaito, as III looked up at him.

'Kaito-san…' started III.

'Did you make that signal?' asked Kaito.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' replied III firmly.

'Then get out of my way and let me look at it,' ordered Kaito.

'No,' answered III. 'I'm not going to let you hurt nii-san.'

'IV's up there?' mused Kaito, raising an eyebrow. 'Alright then, how about we duel for the reward of letting me through?'

III nodded, but the pair were interrupted by a third voice.

'Well, what's this here?' asked Gauche, looking at the two. 'Kaito, you should be out hunting Numbers, not investigating things like this. I can take this from here.'

'This is my business, not yours, Gauche,' replied Kaito. 'If you're going to try to interfere, then I'll just have to stop you too.'

'Is that so?' responded Gauche, raising an eyebrow. 'Well, it looks like you two were in the mood for duelling; how about the three of us duel for the privilege of going up those stairs?'

Kaito smirked. 'I'm game for that, it'll be an interesting challenge. How about you, III?'

'If it's to protect my brother,' replied III, holding out his arm, 'then I will stop you, regardless of myself.'

'Then let's get this mood going!' said Gauche, throwing his disk into the air as Kaito and III did the same.

There was a flash, and Kaito changed to be dressed all in white, his D-Pad unfolding on his arm into a thin blade-like shape. Across from his, Gauche's D-Pad transformed into a flame-like shape, whilst III's formed into a feather-like shape. All three of their left eyes flashed and markings appeared around them.

'AR Vision, link engaged,' said a computerised voice, and the room around them flashed and became simulated.

'Duel!' said the three.

* * *

><p>Yuma was the last to arrive, walking up to the hotel's loading bay.<p>

'It is likely that there is someone else already here,' said Astral. 'We should be cautious.'

'That's why I'm going in the back way!' yelled Yuma impatiently.

Yuma grappled with the door for a second before it fell open, revealing an empty kitchen.

'This is kinda creepy,' commented Yuma as he walked through the kitchen, and into a dining room. 'Where did you think the signal was?'

'Upwards, I believe,' replied Astral, pointing to a set of stairs next to the room's entrance.

Yuma walked up the stairs, and was midway up them when he noticed a large hole in the wall, through which he saw three people facing each other – III, Kaito and Gauche. Though he couldn't see the simulated monsters and couldn't risk linking into the network for risk of being noticed, it was obvious they were duelling.

III and Gauche were facing away, but Kaito was looking directly towards Yuma, and the two made eye contact.

Yuma was expecting that Kaito would alert the others to his presence, but instead he made the most infinitesimal of nods and continued to stonily watch III and Gauche. Yuma smiled in response, and continued to walk up the stairs.

* * *

><p>Kaito looked back towards III. Hopefully Yuma would be able to figure out what was going on up above; if nothing else, he was a perfect test to see if there was any danger.<p>

III was midway through his Battle Phase.

'I attack your Heroic Challenger Warhammer with my Machu Mach!' declared III. 'Fire of Vris!'

There was a burst of light from the topmost pillar of III's massive castle, and it collided with Gauche's monster, destroying it.

**GAUCHE: 4000→3900**

'Trap activate!' yelled Gauche in response. 'Heroic Revenge Sword! By equipping it to my remaining Spartas, when my monster battles your Machu Mach, it will be automatically destroyed!'

His gold-plated Spartas' spear was replaced by a large black-red sword.

III frowned. 'In that case, I'll set a card and end,' he said.

'My turn, draw!' declared Gauche, drawing a card. 'I Summon a second Heroic Challenger Spartas!'

Beside his first monster appeared a second copy, plated in gold armour and wielding a spear of its own.

**ATK: 1600, LV: 4**

'Now, my Revenge Sword-equipped Spartas will attack your Machu Mach!' he yelled.

'Trap activate!' yelled III. 'Number Wall! My "Number" monsters cannot be destroyed by card effects!'

**GAUCHE: 3900→3100**

'A "Number" support card?!' cried Gauche as his monster collided with Machu Mach and was destroyed. 'Who the hell are you?'

'I am III, of… Tron's family,' replied III, voice wavering slightly. 'I have returned from the depths of despair to inflict vengeance upon Dr. Faker. And… I have sworn to defeat all who try and stop us.'

'Tron?' repeated Gauche, musing over the name.

'It's still your move, Gauche,' interrupted Kaito, and Gauche glared at him.

'In that case, Kaito,' he said, 'I attack your Photon Circler with my other Spartas! That's what you get for interrupting your superiors! I end!'

'Is that so?' replied Kaito. 'My turn, draw! First, I activate the Spell Card, Treasure Cards of Adversity! As you control Special Summoned monsters and I do not, I can draw two cards! Now, I activate the Spell Card "Fusion", allowing me to fuse the two Photon Lizards in my hand into Twin Photon Lizard!'

There was a flash, and a vicious looking two-headed dragon appeared before Kaito.

**ATK: 2400, LV: 6**

'I activate Twin Photon Lizard's effect! By Tributing it, I can summon its Fusion Materials back from the Grave! Return, two Photon Lizards!'

**ATK: 900, LV: 3**

'Now, I activate the effects of my two Photon Lizards, Tributing them to add Photon Slasher and Photon Crusher from my Deck to my hand!'

Kaito smirked, and Gauche raised an eyebrow.

'I Special Summon Photon Slasher and Normal Summon Photon Crusher!'

**ATK: 2100, LV: 4; ATK: 2000, LV: 4**

III's eyes widened and Gauche's mouth tightened as they realised what was about to happen.

'And now, I will Release my two monsters!' declared Kaito, as the two monsters transformed into light and coalesced into the form of a huge red crest. 'Incarnation of light,' he cried, throwing the object into the air, where it began to suck all the light in the room into it, 'descend! _Come forth! GALAXY-EYES PHOTON DRAGON!_'

**ATK: 3000, LV: 8**

Behind Kaito, the seal transformed into the shape of a huge dragon. Previously, III had tamed it with the power of a trap, but with only his Number Wall on the field, he felt the fear that so many of Kaito's victims had before him.

'Galaxy-Eyes…' whispered Gauche. He had of course seen it used, but up until now, he had never had it used against him.

'Now,' taunted Kaito, 'the game really begins!'


	7. Chapter 7

Homura and Madoka were resting in a café near the centre of Heartland, trying to recover from the ordeal IV had put them through. Madoka in particular looked incredibly weakened from the episode.

'That was horrible,' murmured Madoka. 'I didn't think people like that existed.'

'I don't like to either,' concurred Homura, 'but they do, and we're up against one.'

'So what do we do?' asked Madoka.

'I will not allow you to fall into danger,' stated Homura. 'But if I focus solely on you, others will be in danger as well, and I don't want that. So what we need to do now is find out as much as we about these people – that "four" character, and that boy he was going to have me kill.'

Madoka nodded, but then looked thoughtful. 'How are we going to do that?'

'There must be some records,' replied Homura, frowning. Someone tapped on her shoulder, and she turned to see a tallish boy with strange, deep-blue hair.

'Did I hear you say you had a run-in with IV?' he asked. 'Because if you're after information, I think that I've got everything you need.'

* * *

><p>Yuma carefully walked through the building, shuddering at every creak that it made.<p>

'This place is going to just collapse around me,' he moaned. 'What am I doing, Astral?'

'You are investigating,' replied Astral. 'That signal could be part of the key to who I am.'

'But look at this place!' yelled Yuma. 'It's falling apart! It's not safe!'

'If it was going to collapse, then it probably would already have.'

'That's not-' started Yuma, before the rotted timbers underneath him cracked and he fell through them, slamming into the wood underneath hard.

* * *

><p>IV spun. 'What was that?' he whispered. He'd heard a very loud cracking noise only a few rooms away. He turned to look at the last of the computers he had to wipe, shrugged, and, picking it up slowly, threw it at the ground, where it smashed through four decaying floors and finally ended as a shattered mess in the hotel's kitchen.<p>

* * *

><p>Yuma got up just in time to dodge a large black box that came tearing through the ceiling and kept going into the ground. He looked up to see where it had come from – only to stare straight back into the startled eyes of IV.<p>

'So,' he laughed, relaxing, 'we've got some company that managed to get past my little brother, huh?' Then his eyes widened further as he recognised Yuma. 'And not only that,' he continued, 'it's the little boy with the Chaos Numbers! Come to bring me to justice, hmm?'

Yuma stared back up at him, and turned to run. IV flicked his hand out, and a thin red cord emerged from it, wrapping around Yuma's arm and holding him.

'What the-' started Yuma, before turning to look back at IV.

'Can't have you getting back to Kaito and bringing him up here, can we?' said IV. 'If you want your freedom, you're going to have to duel me for it.'

'Yuma, this is not a good idea!' protested Astral.

'I can't do anything about it now!' yelled Yuma. 'He's got me caught! We're going to have to duel him.'

'I will lend you all of my strength, then,' replied Astral. 'IV is not an opponent to be taken lightly.'

IV leapt down the hole in the ceiling, landing opposite the hole in the ground. 'Let's duel, little boy,' he crowed insanely. 'And when I defeat you, your "Chaos Number" will be mine!'

* * *

><p>'So you know who he is?' Homura asked.<p>

'I know a lot about him,' answered Ryoga. 'I mean, I don't know why he's hunting the Numbers, although that's only to be expected given their nature. And I don't really know too much about his past. But I know almost everything he's done since…'

'The nature of the Numbers?' interrupted Homura. 'What do you mean by that?'

Ryoga frowned. 'The Numbers are evil cards that corrupt their owners and fill their hearts with darkness. Some people have the ability to resist this possession, but most who hold a Number are corrupted by their influence. I was the first to be corrupted, but I was saved from my darkness by the Number Hunter, Yuma Tsukumo.'

'So Yuma could be able to help us…' mused Homura, and Ryoga laughed.

'I doubt it,' said Ryoga. 'Yuma's out of his depth as it is. He's managing to stay ahead in this game through a combination of foolhardiness and luck, but they won't last him forever. And despite my warnings, he _insists_ on duelling these psychopaths!'

Madoka stared at him, eyes wide. 'You mean… IV? He's duelled IV? But he's not too bad, I mean, Homura-sama could beat him!'

Ryoga's eyes narrowed as he examined the taller girl. 'You defeated IV?' he muttered.

'I did,' replied Homura. 'That's when this whole mess began.'

Ryoga paused thoughtfully. 'Do you have a recording of it on your D-Gazer?' he mused.

Homura took from her buckler a small black device and handed it to Ryoga. 'Do you mean this?' she asked. Ryoga nodded and placed it next to his own D-Gazer, before taking a set of wires from his pocket and beginning to connect the two devices.

'I need to find out IV's weakness,' he said, smiling. 'And I need to get into contact with Yuma Tsukumo. And if you've really beaten him, then that means I can hack through into the satellites and figure out everything that he's doing. Let's bring him down.'

* * *

><p>'My turn, draw!' yelled Yuma. Across from him, IV had only a set monster. 'I Summon Goblindbergh!'<p>

Above him appeared a curious toy-like plane hauling a huge steel crate.

**ATK: 1400, LV: 4**

'When Goblindbergh is Summoned,' continued Yuma, 'I can Special Summon a monster from my hand! And I choose Ganbara Knight!'

**ATK: 0, LV: 4**

'Yuma, wait!' started Astral, but Yuma ignored him.

'With these two monsters I construct the Overlay Network!' declared Yuma, as his monsters vanished into the galaxy-shaped portal. 'Xyz Summon! Rise forth, Number 39! Aspiring Emperor – Hope!'

Before him unfolded a huge gold-clad warrior, wielding a pair of long silver swords.

**ATK: 2500, RK: 4**

'Now go, Hope!' yelled Yuma. 'Destroy that guy's face-down monster!'

IV laughed as Hope's sword tore into his card, revealing the scattered remnants of a doll. Yuma paled.

'I applaud you for destroying my monster,' mocked IV. 'But I think you've had your fun now.'

'I set a card and end!' finished Yuma, flinching.

'That monster was his "Gimmick Puppet – Baby Face",' stated Astral, 'the card he used to perform the One Turn Kill against Takashi and Tetsuo. You should have been more careful.'

'I know that!' replied Yuma, irritated. 'But there wasn't much else I could do!'

'My turn, draw!' laughed IV, drawing. 'You've had your fun, Tsukumo, and now it's time for me to have mine! Because you control an Xyz Monster and I don't, I Special Summon Gimmick Puppet – Magnet Doll!'

**ATK: 1000, LV: 8**

'Then, I Normal Summon Gimmick Puppet – Scarecrow, and activate the Spell Card, Level Cross! By discarding Gimmick Puppet – Spider's Web, I can double Scarecrow's Level!'

**ATK: 800, LV: 4→8**

'Here it comes…' whispered Yuma.

'Now, allow me to destroy your pathetic Hope! With these two monsters, I construct the Overlay Network!'

The two monsters vanished into a galaxy-shaped portal of their own, to be replaced with a metallic heart seemingly made of limbs, which immediately began unfolding into the form of a horrific black puppet.

'Appear now, Number 15! Gimmick Puppet – Giant Killer!'

**ATK: 1500, RK: 8**

The puppet's empty green eyes stared down at Yuma and Hope.

'And now, I'm sure you remember Giant Killer's effect,' said IV. 'Because I'm activating it! By detaching an Overlay Unit, your Hope is destroyed, and you take damage equal to its attack points!'

Giant Killer threw strings from its hands that wrapped around Hope, pulling it towards its chest, which opened to reveal an empty chest and a shredder, which swallowed Hope. Then, a cannon emerged and fired a beam of red at Yuma.

'Yuma-' started Astral.

'I KNOW!' yelled Yuma. 'I activate Achacha Chanbara's effect! By Special Summoning it, I can negate this effect damage, then inflict 400 damage to you!'

Before Yuma appeared a dull-clothed swordsman, who deflected the blast with his sword, then sent a plume of fire from it into IV. IV scowled.

**DEF: 400, LV: 3; IV: 4000→3600**

'Well then,' said IV, 'if killing your Hope once won't do the trick, maybe I'll just have to try again! I activate Baby Face's effect, banishing it from my Graveyard to Special Summon your Hope back to your field!'

From the ground before Yuma appeared Hope, pulled by strings. Its armour was damaged and it looked at Yuma balefully.

**ATK: 2500, RK: 4**

'I'm sorry, Hope,' Yuma whispered.

'I activate Giant Killer's effect again!' crowed IV, and Yuma turned away, only to be flung into the wall by Giant Killer's second cannon blast. 'Now,' continued IV, 'I attack your Chanbara!'

**YUMA: 4000→1500**

'I activate Half Unbreak!' declared Yuma. 'My Chanbara cannot be destroyed by battle and damage I take from battles with him is halved!'

'Why won't you just accept your defeat?!' roared IV, before breathing in and resorting to simply glaring at Yuma. 'I'll set a card and end.'

* * *

><p>Beneath Yuma and IV's battle, III, Kaito and Gauche were still battling hard.<p>

'Go, Excalibur!' declared Gauche victoriously. 'Destroy Kaito's Galaxy-Eyes!'

Kaito grimaced as his monster was sliced apart by Gauche's. 'That was a cruel trick,' he said.

'I'm not on your side, Kaito,' replied Gauche. 'You made me your enemy yourself. I end!'

**ATK: 8000→2000**

Kaito glanced at the field. Out of the three of them, III was in the most powerful position, still controlling his "Machu Mach", though now Material-less thanks to Galaxy-Eyes' effect, floating in front of it the strange violet "OOPArts Crystal Alien", and behind the two a single set card. Across from III, Gauche had nothing on his field but Excalibur. On Kaito's own field, he had a single set card, and he frowned at it.

'My turn,' he declared. 'I draw!' He glanced at the card he drew and smiled.

_Perfect,_ he thought.

'I activate the Spell Card, Photon Sanctuary!' he declared, throwing his hand out. 'This allows me to Special Summon two "Photon Tokens" to the field!'

In front of him appeared two glittering orbs, glowing bright blue.

**ATK: 2000, LV: 4**

'And now,' he continued, 'I release both Tokens to Advance Summon Photon Kaiser!'

**DEF: 2800, LV: 8**

Beside him appeared an armoured warrior, wielding a huge shield. III's eyes widened and he gasped in shock, realising what was about to happen.

'Defence of 2800…' mused Gauche. 'Planning to stall, are we, Kaito?'

'Stalling is for the weak! And when Photon Kaiser is used for an Xyz Summon, he is treated as two monsters!' declared Kaito. 'I activate my set card, Photon Surge! This allows me to revive my Galaxy-Eyes in defence position!'

**DEF: 2500, LV: 8**

Kaito glanced at the last card in his hand, and laughed, before turning to Gauche. 'Don't you _dare_ call yourself superior to me, Gauche,' he said, and began to glow red. 'There is a _reason_ that I am the Numbers Hunter, and it has nothing to do with Faker! _This is why I'm the Number Hunter!_'

Gauche blinked and stared, whilst III hid behind his two monsters, eyes widening.

'_I overlay Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and Photon Kaiser!_' declared Kaito, as the two monsters vanished into light, disappearing into the huge red portal that was appearing in the roof above them. III looked utterly terrified.

'Radiant galaxy,' chanted Kaito, eyes blazing red and shockwaves reverberating around the room, 'become the striking light! Now all you need to do is to arise!' From the portal emerged a huge trident-like crest, which Kaito threw into the air, when it span and twisted, light transforming around it into the shape of some massive creature.

'_Descend, my very soul!_' he cried, as the shape solidified into the form of a massive dragon. '_NEO GALAXY-EYES PHOTON DRAGON!_'

**ATK: 4500, RK: 8**

Gauche's eyes widened in shock. 'What… what is that…' he whispered.

'Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon's effect activates,' declared Kaito, 'negating the effects of all other cards on the field! Go, _howling blow!_'

The dragon roared, sending a shockwave through the hotel. There was an unpleasant cracking sound, and III looked around hurriedly. Gauche turned slowly to face III. 'You knew…' he whispered.

'Now then,' continued Kaito, relentless, 'I attack Excalibur with Neo Galaxy-Eyes! Go! _Ultimate Photon Stream!_'

The dragon breathed in, and sent a blazing stream of energy that slammed into Gauche's monster and then Gauche himself hard, reducing his Life Points to 0. Kaito spun to face III.

**GAUCHE: 500→0**

'Don't think I'm through with you, III!' he yelled. 'I chain Galaxy Pulse! As Neo Galaxy-Eyes destroyed an Xyz Monster this turn, it can attack once more! Now, Neo Galaxy-Eyes, destroy Machu Mach! _ULTIMATE PHOTON STREAM!_'

The huge dragon turned its attack to III's monsters, spitting its violent red stream into them-

'I activate the trap card, OOPArts Ancient Citadel!' declared III, taking Kaito by surprise. 'This negates your attack, but as a cost, I take 800 damage for each monster I control!'

Kaito blinked as his monster's attack was absorbed by a glittering blue portal, and then III smiled sadly. 'I won't let you hurt my monsters,' he said. 'They're the only friends I have left.'

There was a flash, and electricity struck III from the very same portal that had protected him, reducing his Life Points to 0.

**III: 1400→0**

The field and the monsters around the trio disappeared. Kaito walked over to III.

'I won't let you hurt my brother,' protested III.

'I promise I won't, okay?' replied Kaito, before turning and scowling at Gauche. 'Don't get in my way again,' he said, before walking away from Gauche, up the stairs towards IV.

There was a long pause, and then Gauche whispered, 'What the hell was that…'


	8. Chapter 8

'…so that's what I know about IV,' concluded Ryoga. 'Long story short, he's a dangerous sociopath who I'd rather avoid and who I still think you should.'

'I refuse to allow someone like that to run rampant,' replied Homura.

'A noble goal,' replied Ryoga. 'Just don't let it get to your head. Sacrifices must be made in order to administer justice. Exactly how far would you be willing to go to stop IV?'

Homura paused, and Ryoga continued.

'From what you told me, you gave up your chance to get rid of him in order to save your friend, even though it wasn't urgent. If killing IV was the only way to stop him, would you?'

'I'm not a murderer,' replied Homura. 'No matter what they've done, I'm not killing someone. Humans deserve better than that, even scum like him.'

Ryoga raised an eyebrow at the designation "humans", but said nothing. 'That's a shame,' he said instead. 'Because it may just be the only way. And when the time comes, and you can't raise a gun to his head and shoot him, I will pick up your gun and do it for you. Right between the eyes.' Ryoga's eyes blazed with an unnatural purple light, and he licked his lips, clearly enjoying the idea.

Madoka looked at Ryoga, startled, and Homura frowned. 'I thought you said you weren't possessed by a Number anymore,' she said.

'I got another one,' replied Ryoga succinctly. 'It's going to help me.'

Homura continued frowning, but said nothing.

'So what's your story, then?' asked Ryoga. 'I can't help if you don't tell me anything.'

Homura blinked, but said nothing. Instead, it was Madoka who took the lead.

'You wouldn't believe us if we told you,' said Madoka. 'Just… we want to help.'

'But I can't let you kill this guy,' interrupted Homura. 'No matter what he's done. So will you help?'

Ryoga laughed. 'I'll help,' he said, smirking. 'It's been a while since I've worked with someone honest I can trust.'

Homura opened her mouth to reply to the obvious sarcasm, but was interrupted by a buzzing from Ryoga's D-Gazer, which was still attached to hers. Ryoga lifted it from its nest of cables, and frowned. 'Well, that's not good…' he muttered, and Homura and Madoka leant over his shoulder to see what he was looking at.

'You might be right,' said Homura, paling. 'We'd better get over there.'

* * *

><p>Yuma spun on his heel, drawing and glancing at the card, before taking another card from his hand and throwing it onto his D-Pad. 'I Summon Zubaba Knight!' he declared, as a bronze-clad warrior wielding a pair of swords materialised beside his Damage Mage.<p>

**ATK: 1600, LV: 3**

IV smirked. 'Another Xyz, huh? But my Number can't be killed except by another Number.'

'In that case, I'll just have to use another Number!' replied Yuma. IV's eyes widened. 'With my two monsters, I construct the Overlay Network!'

Achacha Chanbara and Zubaba Knight disappeared into another glittering portal, and Yuma punched the air. 'Alright! Xyz Summon! Come on out, Number 17! Leviath Dragon!'

In front of Yuma unfolded a second Number, a massive, thin blue dragon that glared at IV's puppet and screeched an ear-wrenching cry.

**ATK: 2000, RK: 3**

'Now, I activate Leviath Dragon's effect! By detaching an Overlay Unit, Leviath Dragon gains 500 attack points!'

One of the orbs circling the dragon flew towards its mouth, where it was swallowed and the dragon shone blue for a moment.

**OU: 2→1, ATK: 2000→2500**

'Now go, Leviath Dragon! Destroy his Giant Killer! VICE STREAM!'

**IV: 3600→2600**

IV flinched as the blast destroyed his puppet, but then began to laugh again. 'I activate the effect of Gimmick Puppet – Night Joker in my hand!' he declared. 'By banishing Giant Killer, I can Special Summon it!'

**ATK: 800, LV: 8**

'Don't worry,' said Astral, looking over Yuma's shoulder at his hand. 'So long as you still have "Monster Reborn", you can still summon Hope Ray and make a comeback.'

'Hey, yeah!' said Yuma. 'I-'

'Trap activate!' interrupted IV. 'Mind Crush! I can declare a card name, and if that card is in your hand, you have to discard it. And I choose… oh, I don't know… "Monster Reborn"!'

Yuma started as a ghostly hand emerged from IV's card and grabbed the card from his hand, placing Monster Reborn casually into his Graveyard.

'You don't think I can't tell when someone's about to do the same trick twice?' mocked IV. 'I can always tell! I am the master of this game, child, and you are just another beginner with a lucky streak. But now it's time for you to accept your defeat!'

Yuma grimaced. 'In that case, I'll set a card and end!'

'You just don't give up, do you?' spat IV. 'Well, allow me to rid you of your pathetic hope! By discarding Gimmick Puppet – Necro Doll, I can revive my Gimmick Puppet – Spider's Web!'

In front of IV materialised a huge spider's web, in the centre of which was a vicious looking mechanical spider, eight cold red eyes staring emptily at Yuma.

**ATK: 0, LV: 8**

'With these two Dark monsters, I construct the Overlay Network!' declared IV, the seal on his hand flashing. 'Xyz Summon! Number 40! Gimmick Puppet – Heaven's Strings!'

In front of him appeared a twisted joke of a creature, its asymmetry mocking sanity.

**ATK: 3000, RK: 8**

'Yuma-' started Astral, but Yuma was grinning.

'Bring on all you've got!' yelled Yuma. 'I'm not afraid of you, IV!'

IV's eyes narrowed, and he spat. 'I despise people like you,' he said. 'You reject my service in favour of such a clumsy ideal as "hope" or "friendship". You know nothing! Only through loneliness and pain will you gain power! I activate the Spell Card, Attack Gimmick! This increases Heaven's Strings' attack power by 500 until the End Phase, and when it destroys a monster by battle, I can inflict damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack power!'

**ATK: 3000→3500**

'Now, Heaven's Strings will attack Leviath Dragon! HEAVEN'S BLADE!'

'Trap activate!' retorted Yuma as the deformed creature's blade swung towards Leviath Dragon's neck. 'Bye Bye Damage! This prevents one of my monsters from being destroyed by battle!'

IV scowled as Heaven's Strings' blade bounced harmlessly off Leviath Dragon's neck, even as Yuma was flung backwards into the ground by the resulting damage.

**YUMA: 1500→500**

'Additionally,' continued Yuma, 'when I take damage, you take double that amount!'

IV's eyes widened as Leviath Dragon opened its maw and fired a stream of blue straight at him, throwing him backwards into the ground. There was a creaking sound, and IV clumsily stood up.

**IV: 2600→600**

'In that case,' muttered IV, 'I'll just have to put a timer on this duel. How about… until your next End Phase! I activate Heaven's Strings' effect!'

One of the purple orbs spinning around the monstrosity was absorbed into its sword, and it began playing on the strings that connected its left arm to its body. From the sky poured red strings that covered Leviath Dragon, and IV smirked.

**OU: 2→1; SC: 0→1**

'I'm sure you remember it,' he said. 'By detaching an Overlay Unit from Heaven's Strings, I can place a String Counter on Leviath Dragon. And during your next turn, all your monsters with String Counters will be destroyed, and you will take damage equal to their attack power! Now, you have no hope! You are alone, and your friends are nowhere to be found! You're hopeless!' He began to laugh. 'Don't you see! Without your friends, you're nothing. You'd be better off without them.'

Yuma looked down. 'You're right…' he muttered. 'Without my friends, I'd be nothing.' As IV raised an eyebrow, Yuma stared back up at him, eyes confident. 'Without my friends, I'd be nothing!' he repeated. 'Without Kotori or Tetsuo or Takashi or Tokunosuke or Cathy, I'd never have gotten this far! And without Ryoga or Kaito, I would never ever have learnt so much about duelling! My friends are as much a part of my Deck as my cards, and I'm going to show you that, IV!'

'Your friends aren't here right now, though,' insisted IV. 'And if what you say is true, then you can't do anything without them!'

'My friends are always with me, no matter where I am!' replied Yuma. 'And there's nothing that can prove otherwise! It's my turn!' He shut his eyes, and took the card from his deck, glancing at it. His eyes widened. _It came,_ he whispered.

'It's time for you to witness the power that my friends have given me, IV!' declared Yuma, throwing the card he drew onto his D-Pad. 'I activate the Spell Card, Armored Xyz!'

'Armored Xyz?!' cried IV.

'Armored Xyz allows me to equip a monster I control with an Xyz Monster from my Graveyard! And, the equipped monster's attack power, defence power and effect become that of the equipped monster! I'm equipping Leviath Dragon with my Aspiring Emperor – Hope!'

Beside Leviath Dragon appeared Hope, who flashed and his armour began to transform, folding around Leviath Dragon and transforming it into a bulky gold dragon, horns shining bronze and wings glittering.

**ATK: 2500→2500, RK: 3→4**

'And what are you planning to achieve with that?' asked IV. 'Your monster is still weaker than Heaven's Strings, no matter what you've put into it.'

'Oh, I forgot to mention!' replied Yuma victoriously. 'Hope's abilities aren't the only things Leviath Dragon gets! It also gets Hope's name!'

IV's eyes widened at the implication of what that meant. 'Its name…' he whispered.

'I Overlay Leviath Hope Dragon!' yelled Yuma, as Leviath Dragon folded itself into a blue sphere, plated now in gold, and disappeared into a galaxy-shaped portal.

'CHAOS XYZ CHANGE!' yelled Yuma and Astral simultaneously, as in front of the pair appeared a massive sword-like form, shining gold and black. 'SHOW YOURSELF, CHAOS NUMBER 39! THE POWER OF HOPE AND THE TRUE MESSENGER OF TRANSFORMING LIGHT! _ASPIRING EMPEROR – HOPE RAY!_'

In front of Yuma, the object unfolded into a massive, gold-plated warrior, who loomed over IV's puppet. IV himself took a step backwards, and the ground creaked ominously.

**ATK: 2500, RK: 4**

'I activate Hope Ray's effect!' continued Yuma and Astral. 'By detaching both its Overlay Units, Hope Ray gains 1000 attack points, and your Heaven's Strings loses 2000! Go, OVERLAY CHARGE!'

The two Materials were sucked into Hope Ray's massive third sword, and its body shone white.

**OU: 2→0, ATK: 2500→3500; ATK: 3000→1000**

'Now go, Hope Ray! Destroy IV's monster and wipe out his Life Points! HOPE SWORD CHAOS SLASH!'

Yuma's massive monster's sword sliced through IV's puppet, before throwing shockwaves at IV that sent him crashing through the broken floor, screaming.

**IV: 600→0**

Yuma's eyes widened as the simulated field around him dissolved, and he froze. 'Did I just kill him?' he whispered.

'Yuma-' started Astral, but Yuma slumped onto the ground.

'Duelling should be fun!' he cried. 'And all it's causing is pain!'

'Yuma-' repeated Astral, and there was a cracking sound from above him.

'Yuma!' came a yell from the stairway, and Kaito dived through, pushing the paralysed boy out of the way of the collapsing ceiling, which hit the floor hard and tore through.

'Kaito-' whispered Astral.

'Yuma,' muttered Kaito, grabbing him, 'this is no time to have a breakdown! I'm getting you out of here.' He smirked. 'I mean, if you're dead, then so is Astral, and then this game loses all its fun.'

Kaito dragged Yuma down two flights of stairs, the building collapsing around him, only to be confronted by the fact that one of the stairways had completely separated itself from the rest of the building.

Kaito cursed and smashed the window beside him, before grabbing Yuma again and leaping out.


End file.
